New E.coli strain 'more dangerous than MRSA'

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

It produces an enzyme which creates infections resistant to many drugs and, according to one expert, is worse than MRSA.

On the Tonight with Trevor McDonald programme, previously undisclosed figures from the Health Protection Agency reveal the growth of the ESBL E.coli bug.

It first appeared in Britain in 2003, mainly affecting elderly women.

Two years ago the HPA reported that it had seen a rise in infections caused by the strain, with one study showing it had caused a significant number of deaths in one area.

There have so far been two major outbreaks reported, in Southampton and Shropshire.

The Tonight programme claims the bug has spread in the North of England, with the number of cases in Blackpool more than doubling in the last two years.

Dr Achyut Guleri, a consultant clinical microbiologist at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, says: "It's a problem which is rapidly and recently increasing in England.

"If a patient has got an infection with an ESBL producer then we run out of options of how to treat them. It looms like an emerging giant. Basically it's very important that this becomes known to the public, that there is a problem."

Professor Peter Collignon, director of the infectious diseases unit at Canberra Hospital in Australia, tells the programme: "It's worse than MRSA. A superbug like ESBL is very difficult or sometimes impossible to treat."

Dr Albert Lessing, director of infectious control at Wexham Park Hospital near Slough, which screens patients for ESBL E.coli, says: "We have a steady detection of these organisms in urine of at least one per day.

"ESBL in our observation is changing now in that we do see quite clearly a younger patient group, so it's really a new disease if you like."

Recent tests for the Health Protection Agency, of chickens for sale in British supermarkets, found a quarter of foreign chicken had ESBL E.coli, compared with just one British bird.

Tests in Spain and the U.S. have already shown a link between chicken and human diseases.

Tonight with Trevor McDonald: Poison on Your Plate, ITV1, 8pm.